A Tender Mind (An Adam and Hannibal Crossover)
by watergirl50610
Summary: Adam Raki, a man with Aspergers syndrome and pure empathy, is pushed over the edge for information about Garrett Jacob Hobbs. (Will change to crossover if they accept my request)


Adam Raki was a special agent for the FBI, a job he's had on and off for three years now. He was only called in on the extremely difficult cases, Jack Crawford wanting to spare the man's already tender mind for the hard stuff, which didn't really make sense, but neither of them thought too much about it.

Alana Bloom had been Adam's shield ever since his first day. His Aspergers Syndrome sparked the psychologist's curiosity, to say the least. She made sure Jack never pushed him too hard, and so far Adam had never gotten lost or fallen over the edge.

Hannibal Lecter called Raki's other mental anomaly "pure empathy"; when Adam stepped into the mind of someone else, he could feel every single emotion running through him as strongly as if it were his own, which proved to be a real challenge, since his Aspergers blocked some of those emotions from ever being put into words.

Alana had called the mixture of the two conditions "a cocktail for disaster". Three years now, Adam had survived with the chaos in his head, but Dr. Bloom knew that his time of control was almost up.

Garrett Jacob Hobbs was Adam's first kill. Even when talking to Dr. Lecter, his psychiatrist, the fragile man could only admit very little of what he was thinking or feeling. Yes, he could tell Hannibal about the nightmares or the loss of time, but he couldn't tell him what he experienced mentally during the episodes. His tongue failed him there.

Jack had been noticing Adam's increasing muteness for a while now, and one day he finally called him into his office to talk about it.

The director sat behind his desk, hands folded in front of him, "I need you to tell me what's bouncing around in that head of yours, Adam."

"I.. I've already told Dr. Lecter everything," he sat in the chair in front of Crawford, hands clamped nervously together in his lap, eyes avoiding direct contact with Jack's.

"Yes, but I need you to tell me _more_."

"I- I can't. You know that..."

"Would you be more open if I called in Dr. Lecter and Dr. Bloom to sit with us?"

Adam nodded, but didn't mention how that probably wouldn't change anything. What he felt in his head, all those things Hobbs had felt towards his daughter and his victims, he just couldn't get them out, no matter how hard he tried, and it frustrated him to no end.

An hour or so later the four were all sitting together, Adam directly in front of Jack with Hannibal and Alana on either side. Crawford's voice was drawn out, almost if he was trying to keep his temper, "Alright, let's try this again. Adam, I need you to tell me about Garrett Jacob Hobbs."

The special agent instinctively turned to Dr. Lecter, expecting him to explain. Hannibal shook his head, "No, Adam. I can not speak for you on this. This answer is all you."

"But I don't know the answer."

"Yes you do. Think, Adam, what was Hobbs feeling when he killed those girls? When he cut his daughter's throat?" Alana and Jack exchanged a glance at Hannibal question, both of them waiting to see if Adam would finally give an answer.

"I told you, I don't know!"

"Adam," there was a firmness in Jack's tone now, "We need to know. To solve this case we need to know what he was thinking, or even if he was thinking anything at all."

Adam was shaking slightly, eyes darting back and forth across the front of Jack's desk, "I- I don't know! I-"

"TELL ME, WHAT HE WAS THINKING!" Big hands slammed down with a final loss of patience on the wooden surface, a boom echoing through the room.

"Jack!" Alana chimed in, just as loudly.

"You're hurting my ears!" The other three returned their attention to Adam; he was sitting hunched over in his chair, hands clamped over the sides of his head, "Stop yelling! You're hurting my ears!" he didn't even notice that the room was quiet now, fright overwhelming his system.

Alana shook her head and gave Jack a disgusted look before kneeling beside the panicked man, "Adam? Adam, it's okay now. We're done yelling." She tugged lightly on his hands knowing that he wouldn't reject her touch; he lowered them slowly. "We're sorry for hurting your ears."

He was shaking furiously now, arms clamped around his middle as he remained hunched over. Alana rubbed the side of his arm, attempting to give him some comfort, "We're all done here Adam. We can go now."

"Alana.."

"_Jack._"

"I believe," Hannibal finally spoke up, turning slowly to Jack, "We are done for today."


End file.
